


things have changed for me (and thats okay)

by kardala



Category: Friends at the Table (Podcast)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, TM59 Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-13
Updated: 2018-07-13
Packaged: 2019-06-09 16:18:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15271398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kardala/pseuds/kardala
Summary: It turns out that cleaning up is a little more eventful than Kent had expected, in all the very best ways.





	things have changed for me (and thats okay)

Kent Brighton has been hopelessly in love with Gig Kephart ever since the moment they met.

Okay, not  _hopelessly_ or  _in love_ or the  _moment_ _they met_ , though it does sound much more romantic that way, it's just that Kent has taken a lot of fondness for the guy in the time they've known each other.

Kent is pretty sure he knows Gig well enough. He knows his laugh is adorable and extremely contagious (he's had a lot of first hand experience with this mysterious effect), he knows he would do  _anything_ to make some kids smile, even if it means humiliating himself entirely. Though, he also knows it's pretty much impossible to embarrass Gig. He's very good at laughing at himself, along with everything else. 

He really does just bring smiles wherever he goes.

Even now, as they sit in the hangar, sorting all the tools and parts that got thrown about during the... commotion. They'd already cleaned up the messier bits, and Kent is very glad for that, at least. 

Kent is softly laughing at Gig's latest very good goof, though, honestly, he could've said the lamest, worst joke in the world and still managed to make Kent laugh (how does he do that?) because simply being in Gig's presence is inherently delightful.

Yeah, he's got it bad, doesn't he?

"And then it was like,  _heavily_ implied that jelly juice has alcohol or something in it? And I was like, dude is this drugs? And I never really ended up getting a straight answer so I've been thinking about it ever since," Gig is saying, easily placing several tools neatly in a drawer, like it takes no thought at all. 

Kent, unfortunately, is a lot less unfamiliar with the layout of this place, so he's mostly just standing there and occasionally handing Gig something off the floor. 

"I've never known jelly juice to have that sort of thing," Kent tells him, carefully picking up a handful of nails and then awkwardly holding them in his hand because Gig already has something to put away and he has no idea where it's supposed to go. "Jam juice, though. Jam juice you've got to watch out for."

He's lying, of course.

Or is he?

Regardless, Gig immediately haphazardly throws the tools in the drawer and spins around to face Kent. "What's wrong with jam juice?"

Kent takes one of Gig's hands and puts the nails in it, and winks.

"Not you too!" Gig complains, closing his hand around the nails- wincing for a brief moment, probably poking himself with one- but the end of his sentence turns into laughter like he can't even pretend to be mad. "I'm never going to find the truth about the jelly-jam juice!"

"Some things are better left unknown."

Gig scoffs and walks over to another part of the room. "That's  _worse_ , saying that makes it  _worse_!" 

He watches as Gig gently pours the nails into a little container. 

It's always a little bizarre to be in a place completely unknown to you with someone who knows it like the back of their hand. It would take Kent ten minutes to figure out where the nails are supposed to go, but Gig knows it without hesitation. 

It's a little interesting, too, to see the way Gig interacts with this room, and know that Gig would open every drawer and cabinet and box in Kent's place just because he's curious (no, really, he did that. Kent didn't mind it too much, honestly) and pranced around like he owned the place. But now, in a place he really  _does_ own, it's like nothing's even there at all.

There's a beat of silence.

"Thanks for helping out," Gig says, trying to snap the top of the nail container shut and failing over and over again.

Kent laughs to himself, walks over, and shuts it easily for him in one try. "My pleasure," he says, and Gig sticks his tongue out at him. "But I should really be the one thanking you. You and Echo and Even have helped me an invaluable amount this past month. I believe you might've even won the war for us, by letting The Wandering Sea go free."

"No I mean, like," Gig pauses. "Thanks for just being here. I at least need one person on this ship who's not in an extremely fucked up state of mind right now, otherwise _I'll_ get fucked up. So thank you, for not being all fucked up."

"I try my best."

Gig smiles, picks up a screw laying on the table next to him and begins fidgeting with it. "Not that I like, blame them or anything." Gig adds, but Kent never would've assumed that anyway. "But I just  _hate_ the atmosph- ow!" Gig drops the screw he was playing with and looks at his hand, which has a tiny little puncture in it from the screw. Barely deep enough to bleed. More annoying than painful, really.

He groans, picks up the screw, and starts to play with again.

Only for a moment, though, because Kent reaches over and takes it from his hand. "Careful," he says.

"Oh come on, it wasn't a life or death situation or something."

"Yes, we've already had plenty of those today, haven't we?"

"Kent."

"Gig."

They look at each other for moment. "Anyway," Gig says, turning away first, and opting for some much safer washers to occupy his hands with, and Kent sets the screw back down. "There's so much... tension, I guess. I feel like everyone's changed."

"Mm," Kent nods.

"And who even knows what's going on wherever Signet and Tender are at. And Grand's been acting weird ever since Skein. Fourteen's been  _gone_ , only  _maybe_ alive. Everything was so much  _better_ before the Miracle. It was  _easier,_ everything made  _sense_! And then Gumption died, and Empyrean died, and everything went to shit."

"That's not true," Kent says, but he can't find anything to dispute it.

Gig seems to be able to sense this and shakes his head, tossing the washers from hand to hand quicker now. "Sorry, I don't wanna be a downer." he pauses, and then turns back to Kent. "Besides, without the Miracle, I never would've met you."

Kent can feel himself blushing and tries to will himself not to, which, of course, doesn't work even a little bit. "That would've been a shame," Kent says with a buzzing warmness from his stomach to his throat. 

"Yeah," Gig says, and looks at him, and Kent  _swears_ he can see the exact moment where Gig thinks ' _fuck it_ ' before leaning towards him and- kissing him.

To be honest, Kent never really thought Gig would make the first move, because Gig is as dense and oblivious as forty brick walls right next to each other and then some. Not just to Kent, but to everyone he's ever seen flirt with Gig (which is a  _lot_ of people). He's the type of person to think that, if you told him you would love to date him and think you would be great together, would think you're just being a very nice friend.

Kent forces himself to get over his surprise quickly so the moment doesn't pass without him even kissing back. Thankfully, he does, and Kent feels himself smiling against Gig's mouth.

Gig pulls away. "Uh," he says, very eloquently, and Kent feels his blush turned up to the absolute maximum and his heart playing jump rope. "I really like you," he says, after a moment.

"I'm very fond of you as well," Kent says, feeling so warm and dizzy with it that he just might collapse. 

"That's good," Gig says. "Very good, probably. Definitely. For  _sure_ good."

Kent laughs, and the two of them are wearing grins that just don't seem to quit. 

"We should, uh, you should- oh! The Feast of the 300 Divines is coming up, we're hosting, you should come! And bring as many people as you want."

"I'm afraid the only person I'd want to bring will already be there."

Gig looks at him, confused, like he's trying to figure out which member of The Notion Kent would want to bring along.

He shakes his head, fondly. "I'm talking about you."

"Oh! Oh, that was obvious." Gig laughs at himself, and puts his head on Kent's shoulder.

Kent feels like a middleschooler with a crush, and it is a  _wonderful_ feeling that he never wants to end.

There is a clang as something hits the ground, and Kent steps back on instinct to see one of Gig's washers fell out of his hand. "We should probably get back to cleaning up," Kent says, and Gig nods, and they finish their job standing a little bit closer than they had when they started. 

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed!! <3 <3


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